Otautau Golf Club

Nine holes on the hill above town, with hay paddocks and the Western Southland hills rolling out behind every green.

Otautau Golf Club is located 30 minutes north from Invercargill in Western Southland.

A nine hole course on the hill above the town. It is rugged and undulating. A truly rural course with challenging holes especially the final 3.

When you are finished at the course 2 minutes away is the Otautau Pub. Great Southern hospitality and brilliant food.

The Course

A bright green with the flag and flowering rhododendrons on the hillside behind — The green, framed by flowering rhododendrons on the hill

A wide fairway view with Western Southland hills in the distance — Looking out over the fairways to the hills beyond

A golfer walking down a tree-lined fairway carrying a bag — Down the tree-lined fairway

A long fairway with a yellow flag under a clear blue sky — A long one, dead straight, under a clear sky

The green in autumn colour, framed by red and gold foliage — Autumn colour framing the green

A green in front of the clubhouse and outbuildings — The home green, clubhouse just behind

A golfer mid-swing on the tee, clubs in the foreground — Teeing off

The clubhouse and sheds seen across the fairway under a clear blue sky — The clubhouse and sheds from across the course

Get to Know the Holes

Otautau’s nine greens do double duty for a full round: rather than every hole simply picking up a “+9” number for the back nine, each one gets a second, differently-coloured marker for the return loop — sometimes keeping the same number, sometimes not, and occasionally with its own par and distance, as Hole 14’s “Elbow” shows below. The clubhouse’s own local rules board separately cross-references a few of these pairings (hole 8 with 17, 4 with 13, 5 with 14) for handicapping.

Hole 3 sign, Plateau, par 4, 236 metres, shown in both tee-marker colours — Hole 3 · Plateau (Par 4, 236m)

Hole 5 sign, Dogleg, par 4, 368 metres, on the same post cluster as the Hole 14 markers — Hole 5 · Dogleg (Par 4, 368m)

Hole 13 sign, Baldy, par 3, with distances of 141 and 145 metres for the two tee colours — Hole 13 · Baldy (Par 3, 141–145m)

Hole 14 sign, Elbow, two tee-colour markers giving par 5 at 353 metres and par 4 at 348 metres — Hole 14 · Elbow (Par 4–5, 348–353m)

Local Character

A hand-made sign reading Ice Captain with an arrow, next to a wheelie bin — A club’s own sense of humour — “Ice Captain,” pointing the way

Club History

A sign reading Otautau Golf Club Inc, Green Fees 18 Holes or any part thereof, $10.00 — The clubhouse fee sign — an honesty system, envelope and all

A Green Fees slot in the clubhouse wall, with a numbered receipt tag ready to attach to a bag or trundler — The fee slot itself, receipt tag ready to tie on

The club's chalkboard local rules and events board, listing Men's and Ladies' events and course-specific rules — The clubhouse’s own chalked-up local rules board

Ken’s Visit

Otautau Golf Club – Stay in the Rough.

PHYSICAL ADDRESS:

Slaughterhouse Street Otautau